


The Move

by Gayshipswithtea



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alec actually having a nice time for once, Domestic Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, F/F, Fluff, Gen, Humour, M/M, Single Parent Magnus Bane, i can't think of any more tags, teacher alec
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:34:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25823716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gayshipswithtea/pseuds/Gayshipswithtea
Summary: The Lightwoods have moved a few times before, but never to a different country. Alec doesn't care why his parent's jobs forced them to uproot their comfortable life in New York to the less nice side of London but he does care about his plans to become a teacher. Once he's moved out he has to fend for himself more. He misses his siblings and not seeing them every day. There is an upside, though: the parent of a year two girl who has been striking terror into the hearts of teacher since she started school.
Relationships: Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis/Raphael Santiago
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was an impulse write and probably isn't my best. Hope you enjoy!

The child everyone feared. 

“Alec! Can you help move these?” 

Maryse yelled down the hall of the exquisitely overpriced London flat. Alec sighed and staggered under the weight of the box his mother was referring to, muscles straining against the heavy ox of books he has been tasked with moving into his brother’s room. He didn’t have to move with them. He could have stayed in the states, skype his siblings very night and carry on working at the bar he had been stuck at for a year since finishing college but he just couldn’t do it. 

Every time he had felt like giving up on something, his sister had been there to order pizza, Jace there to dig out monopoly, Max there to bait Jace into flipping the table up when the game eventually ended in chaos. 

“Thanks Alec!” Max grinned at him, stacking books onto the little shelf in his new room. 

“No problem, buddy,” he ruffled his brother’s hair and joined Izzy in stripping down the horrible wallpaper the previous owners had left in the small apartment. 

“So, what year are you teaching?” Izzy asked as strips of thick beige paper gathered around her feet like a nest. 

“Year two,” Alec said. He had been hoping for year four. In the words of his mother, they were young enough to behave but old enough to understand your jokes. Teacher training was quite a lot more stressful than he was hoping for, especially when he had to bottle up that stress in a one room flat overlooking the school he would be working at. Not only that, but his neighbours were painfully loud and about the most extroverted couple he had ever met. 

“Bummer,” Izzy sighed. She peeled a final scrap back to reveal a slightly patchy cream wall, ripe for the painting. At that moment, there was a loud crash and Jace’s voice yelling obscenities for all the street to hear. 

~ 

Alec fiddled nervously at the stray threads of the seat as he waited expectantly for the pair to enter the classroom. After being there for a week he had all but memorised the names of the thirty children partly under his care: 

There was Ben, excitable and enthusiastic, ever accidentally getting into awkward situations; Minnie, who reminded Alec of a smaller, female version of Jace, and Victoire Bane, the girl who every teacher seemed to be a little afraid of. Whether it be talking out of turn once too often or sharing information good little girls aren’t supposed to know about everything from politics to sex ed, every adult in the school had a reason to be wary of her presence. 

Apart from Alec. 

Since the moment she laid eyes on him, Vic had seemed to like the man, although Alec had no idea why this might be. It was for this reason that he found himself nervously awaiting his first parent-teacher meeting. 

He head jerked suddenly upwards as he heard the door click softly open and the excited babble of the little girl who taken such an interest in him. Behind her followed two people nearer Alec’s age: Miss Branwell, the teacher who had originally been teaching the year two class and a man Alec could only assume to be Victoire’s Dad. 

If he was it explained a lot just by glancing at him. He was wearing a variety of eccentric jewellery choices and his spiked black hair was streaked with red. Although he was evidently not related by blood to her, he seemed the exact type of person to parent Vic. Ignoring that he found him extremely attractive, Alec greeted Mr Bane with a smile and sat down to discuss his daughter’s behaviour. 

“So, Mr Bane-” 

“Magnus, please,” 

Alec paused, taken aback before continuing. “Alright, Magnus. While, um, I think it’s great that Victoire is so knowledgeable, some parents have, err com...plained...” He trailed off, looking at Lydia for help. 

“What Alec is trying to say is that Some parents are less than happy with the facts she’s been sharing,” Lydia said. Alec nodded at her gratefully. 

“Yes and we were wondering if you two could have a... talk. About what discussions are suitable for the classroom.” There. That wasn’t so awkward. Alec thought. 

“Daddy, what are you talking about?” Vic piped up, staring confusedly between the two men. 

“You, sweetie, Now, Mr Lightwood,” Magnus returned his attention to Alec, “I believe I have some thoughts on this better said at a later date. Could we possibly discuss this over dinner?” his voice came from him easily, like he hadn’t thought about what he was saying at all, just trusting he would say it right. 

“Um, okay, if you want to...” Alec said. 

“great! I know this lovely place just down the street. Is 6:30 tomorrow okay for you?” Magnus asked. 

“Um yeah, sure!” 

“I’ll meet you here,”


	2. Not a date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus meets Alec to "discuss Vic's behaviour"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Hopefully more things will happen in this chapter.

“where are you going?” Jace’s voice asked. Alec spun around to meet his brother. The younger boy was in pyjamas already, clutching a mini wine bottle in one hand and a half empty pack of Jaffa cakes, which he had taken a great liking to, in the other. 

“Taking full advantage of your new found privilege, I see?” 

Jace grinned sheepishly down at the bottle, “This isn’t home, I’m eighteen! I can drink as much as I like!” 

Alec’s grin disappeared as he heard Jace refer to home. He was still missing his friends, his old school, everything they had had to leave behind in the US. He was ripped out of his thoughts by his brother again, “Anyway, where are you going?” 

“Dinner. The parent of a child I’ve been teaching,” 

Jace looked at him sceptically, “Are you sure it’s not a date?” 

Alec physically stumbled back in shock. “No! He asked me if we could discuss his kid’s progress!” 

“Any significant other in the picture?” 

“I don’t think so,” 

Izzy stuck her head around the door to her room, now painted a vibrant blue, “That sounds like a date to me!” she said while smiling like the Cheshire cat. 

Alec rolled his eyes and shrugged the rest of his coat on. He knew it was a bad idea stopping off here before meeting with Magnus. Without another word he was out of the door and walking down the empty road. 

Magnus drew up outside the school gates in an elegant ensemble, red and black jacket over a darkly coloured shirt, black and gold eyeliner and multiple rings adorning each finger. Alec wondered how he could lift them high enough to shake his hand with all the extra weight on them and felt his face become warm. 

True to his word, the restaurant was charming and surprisingly cosy, not at all what Alec had been expecting from Magnus. Maybe a classy place with fake chandeliers and tablecloths. Still, he was glad it was just a small Italian place, not too expensive with unlimited garlic bread if your ordered anything two pasta dishes. To some relief, they hardly even talked about Vic’s behaviour, instead focusing on the child’s personality, sharing stories with the other. 

“Anyway, you told me about siblings. Do you have to deal with them very often?” Magnus asked about halfway through his tagliatelle. Alec let out a rare laugh, "Yes, but Izzy and Jace are eighteen now so I have to deal with them less. Max sometimes gets into trouble and I’m normally the one to calm him down. Parents are too busy working to really bring us up,” 

Magnus swirled pasta round his fork and rested his chin on his hand. "And what about you? How are you doing?"

"Um, okay, I guess. A little swamped with work at the moment," Alec shrugged. 

"Is that it? You've told me that your sister love photography, that your adopted brother's long string of girlfirends doesn't hold a candle to Izzy's and that Max gets migranes frequently, an yet you haven't told me the first thing about you,"

Alec looked around, as if searching for an escape route from this dinner-turned-therapy session for primary school teachers who don't focus on themselves enough. His eyes darted back to Magnus', filled with what looked like concern, "what do you want to know?"

"I'm not picky, Alec, what do you want to tell me?" Magnus replied. 

"Well I'm taking a PGCE and Im taining at your daughter' school. I like archery and I guess I'm pretty good with umbers.My Mom and Dad uprooted our lives in The United States to come over here," Alec paused for breath, peeking at Magnus from over the top of the water jug. Magnus sapped a breastick in half, placing the pieces on his napkin like a child playing with his food before he spoke again. 

"What's your favourite film?"

"Nah, you've crossed the line," 

~

“You are falling for him!” Izzy had squealed once Alec recounted a story involving him and Magnus having to prevent a child from running away when Vic felt sick one day and had to be collected early. "Shut up," Alec had said and gone back to marking artwork. 

The christmas holidays were drawing nearer by the second, which meant, in Lydia's words after several martinis, "They get louder than a goddam fire engine but at least their parents buy us alcohol," 

True to her word, chocolate and cheap wine began rolling in occasionally, along with a string of shakily written cards. Alec gazed a little disappointedly at the third bottle he recieved, silently wishing he got as much chocolate as Lydia did instead. He felt a tug at his trouser leg, "Mr Lightwood?" Vic asked. She was holding a present wrapped in shiny silver paper, patterned with snowmen gasping in horror at a sodden pile of sticks, coal and winter clothing. "Yeah?" he grinned at the little girl wearily. It was the end of a long day picking PVA glue off tables. Vic held the present out to him, "Daddy said he wouldn't like your jumpers on anybody else but because you wear them they look good," 

Alec face flushed several shades of red and purple as he accepted the present. Over Vic's head, he could see Magnus chatting to Lydia amicably, shooting a glance in Alec's direction and winking once it was clear he was watching. 

~

On Christmas day the present turned out to be, unsurprisingly, a sweater, although Alec conceeded that it was a lot nicer than the ones he wore from day to day. It wasn't a christmas sweater and it was a darn side less scratchy than the one Izzy and Jace had tried to make him as a joke. And less lumpy. And a better fit.   
"Come on, ask him out already!"   
"No."  
"Why not?" 

That last one, much to the shock of both Izzy and Alec, came from Max, who had busied himself pouting over the fact he wasn't allowed to set the Christmas pudding on fire, an honour that rotated around the children older than thirteen.

"Be- because he..." Alec spluttered,

"Because nothing, you're just scared," Max said in a matter of fact tone of voice. There was a stunned silence from the three older Lightwoods, "Anyway, WHY couldn't I light the pudding this year?" Max continued, apparently unaware of the effect he'd had on the room. 

"He's right, though," Jace mused over a turkey roll that evening. Needless to say, he and Izzy were both taking any opportunity to get buzzed in the first couple months of alcoholic freedom. "How so?" Alec groaned.

"You always denied things instead of dealing with them!" their sister cut in. 

"Et tu, Izzy?" 

"Yes, that's right!" Jace added as if Alec wasn't in the room and conscious, "Do you remember that guy... what was his name? Err, Hamish?" 

"Harvey," 

"Right, Harvey. He just ignored him, didn't he?!" said Izzy.

"Good, he turned out to be a bit of a jerk anyway," 

It was almost a relief when Schools opened back up in January for the young teacher, who threw himself into the opportunity and the fact that he was back in his own apartment for the first time since November. As well as a break from his siblings talking about Magnus, Alec could also see the man himself again. He would be lying to himself if he said he didn't have just the tiniest crush on him, but he'd be damned if he did anything about it. It was being near kids again, he told himself, that was making him experience schoolboy things like a crush. What he failed to tell himself, was that he wouldn't help out on parent's evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are much appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> Research about how teacher training works courtesy of my Dad and Brother.


End file.
